BUSH LEFT OFFICE, once he’d escaped the punishing grip of right-wing bullies enforcing their brand of politically correct ideas and speech codes on him, here is what the conservative Republican president dared to say about the repeated breakdown of government eff orts to resolve the national crisis over immigration. “I not only differ from my own party but the other party as well,” the former president said in a C-SPAN TV interview. “The reason immigration reform died was because of a populism that had emerged.” The news here is that the former president was willing to point to his own party’s culpability for wasting time with political posturing that stalled much-needed national action on a serious issue. The former president strained to walk a fine line, pointing a finger at Democrats as well as Republicans for not reaching agreement on immigration. But the “populism” he blamed was almost completely to be found on right-wing talk radio and among the most conservative voices in Congress.
